Victorian Writers

Victorian Writers.

Gemma: Good morning everybody. We are Bruno, Claudia and Gemma and we are going to talk about Victorian writers. If you have any question, you will be able to ask them at the end of the speech.

Bruno: Hi, I’m going to talk about Charles Dickens. He was born in Portsmouth on February, the 7th 1812. He began his literary career as a journalist .With contacts in the press, he was able to publish a series of sketches under the nickname 'Boz'. In April 1836, he married Catherine Hogarth, daughter of George Hogarth, who edited 'Sketches by Boz'. Most of his novels were first serialized in monthly magazines. He is considered the greatest writer of the Victorian period. He had a near-photographic memory of the people and events, which he used in his writing. Dickens loved the style of the 18th century picturesque or Gothic romance novels. Dickens's novels were, among other things, works of social commentary. He was a fierce critic of the poverty and social stratification of Victorian society. His father was the inspiration for the character of Mr Micawber in David Copperfield. Dickens's second novel, Oliver Twist (1839), shocked readers with its images of poverty and crime and was responsible for the clearing of the actual London slum, Jacob's Island. The Charles Dickens Museum in London holds the world's most important Dickens collection, with over 100,000 items including manuscripts, rare editions, personal items, paintings and other visual sources. He died of a stroke in 1870.

Claudia: Now I'm going to explain things about Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Arthur Ignatius Conan Doyle was born on May, the 22nd 1859, in Edinburgh, Scotland. The Doyle’s family had a prominent position in the world of Art. Arthur rebelled at corporal punishment, which was incredibly brutal in most English schools of that age. It was during these difficult years at school that Arthur realized he had a talent for storytelling. Conan Doyle set up as a doctor in Southsea, a suburb of Portsmouth. With very few patients, Conan Doyle attempted to make money by writing detective stories. His main character, Sherlock Holmes, was based on Dr. Joseph Bell, a surgeon and criminal psychologist. The following year he was paid £1,000 for a whole series on Sherlock Holmes. Conan Doyle really wanted to write historical novels like his hero, Sir Walter Scott, and in 1893 decided to kill off Sherlock Holmes in the story, The Final Problem. However, after coming under considerable pressure from his fans, he returned to write his best known detective story, The Hound of the Baskervilles. He was offered the post of ship's surgeon on the Hope. Surprisingly, at this point in time, Conan Doyle was better known as a writer in the United States of America than in England. Many years later he started to write about spiritualism. Conan Doyle died of a heart attack on the 7^th of July 1930.

Gemma: At last but not least, I'm going to introduce you to the Brontë Sisters. They were three sisters, Charlotte, Emily and Anne. In the same order they were born in 1816, 1818 and 1820. They lived in Thornton, Yorkshire. Charlotte's novel was Jane Eyre (1847). She took the idea of the school that appears in the novel from the Clergy Daughters School, a school where she went when she was young. Emily's novel Wuthering Heights (1847) was written while she was waiting to help her alcoholic brother . And Anne's novel The Tenant of Wildfell Hall (1848) was also inspired from her alcoholic brother but it wasn't very famous because people didn't like it due to its cruelty; they preferred Agnes Grey . Their stories deal with suffering, endurance, or rebellion against fate; with violence, crime and its punishment. Their brother was like some of the characters: a violent, angry, selfish and manipulator man. Their novels were for women. As women were not supposed to write, they had pseudonyms: Currer (Charlotte), Ellis (Emily) and Acton (Anne) Bell. They also wrote poetry. Emily was the best writer, she is considered one of the bests poets of UK, but Charlotte was not very good at poetry. She had more talent for writing stories. They invented an imaginary world and they used to write about it. The three sisters died from tuberculosis, in 1855, 1848 and 1849.

Final: We've talked about these writers because they were the most famous Victorian writers but there are a lot more. Thank you for listening to us and we hope you have enjoyed our presentation. Would you like to ask any questions?

Bruno A.

Gemma L.

Claudia P.

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